


10 Items or Less

by kindaquirky



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: #20Batteen, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Grocery Store, Batman 80th Anniversary, Damian Wayne is a mess, Good Big Brother Jason Todd, M/M, Mentioned Dick Grayson, POV Damian Wayne, Slice of Life, Sort Of, Titus as an icebreaker, definitely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-27 00:57:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18293603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kindaquirky/pseuds/kindaquirky
Summary: There was only one grocery store in Gotham open until 3 a.m. and for the fourth time in almost as many weeks Damian found himself standing in the same checkout clerk’s lane.Damian keeps buying what Tim's selling.





	10 Items or Less

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to [ ANebulaDarkly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anebuladarkly) for the quick read through, even if Tim/Dami isn't her thing. This was a fast write/fast edit to try and get this up for Batman's 80th, so if you find any grammar or formatting errors, sorry and just let me know!

There was only one grocery store in Gotham open until 3 a.m. and for the fourth time in almost as many weeks Damian found himself standing in the same checkout clerk’s lane.

 

The first time he could write off as coincidence. Colin had decided it was close to a war crime that Damian had never had boxed mac and cheese and dragged him to the store. The store had been mostly empty with only one lane open. The skeleton crew had ignored them, and the other customers had varied between dirty looks at Colin's exuberance in the middle of the night and nods of agreement at Colin's poetics over orange powder and soft noodles.  
The single lane had moved quickly, Damian doing his best to keep Colin from finding ‘just one more thing’ to buy from the gum rack. Damian had been more focused on the oh-so-close exit rather than the clerk until he heard Colin’s “You get me, right Tim?”  
“Oh sure. Kraft, nectar of the gods,” he deadpanned.  
The clerk was shorter than Damian, with bangs in his face and obvious sleep deprivation from the bags under his eyes. His name tag stood out against his black apron, ‘I’m Tim. How can I help?’ embossed in bold lettering. The young man looked at Damian, rolling his eyes in an almost conspiratorial way. Damian nodded in silent agreement.  
“Enjoy your box of disappointment, guys,” Tim said, winking and shooting a quick two fingered wave at them as the next customer politely shoved Damian out of the way.  
The macaroni was a complete disappointment.

The second time was less coincidence and more sheer desperation. The night before classes were to start, instead of getting a good night's sleep, Damian was standing in line at the grocery buying treats and pill pockets for Titus, the antibiotic he had gotten from the 24 hour pharmacy down the street shoved in his back pocket. It wasn't quite as late this time, but Tim was still the only lane open, and as Damian dumped his finds on the conveyor, Tim clicked his tongue as he swiped the items through.  
“Sick pup?” Tim asks, frowning over the items before glancing up at Damian. Damian is sure it’s exhaustion that makes him notice that other than the bags, Tim’s face is unmarred; clear, pale skin shining under the yellow fluorescents.  
“Very,” Damian sighs, fishing out his card.  
“Hope it's nothing too serious,” Tim says as he bags everything up.  
“So long as I can shove the horse pills they gave me down his throat then no,” Damian says as he reaches for the receipt Tim holds. Tim’s fingers are thin and long, the short nail painted black. Damian shakes his head to try and clear the unnecessary thoughts from his mind.  
“Hope he gets better soon,” Tim says, giving Damian a small smile.  
“Thanks,” Damian says, quickly leaving as the person behind him sighs loudly and pushes their items closer to the till.  
Titus only takes the pills if Damian wraps them in the lunch meat he had set aside for his lunches, and Damian realizes he and Tim share his evening English class that semester. Tim doesn't notice Damian from his seat in the back, and Damian doesn't make a big deal of it.

The third time is neither. The third time is because Jason had sent a warning text to Damian letting him know that Dick was on a family tour and had let slip that he was going to surprise Damian that weekend, schoolwork be damned.  
Which meant Damian had to appear as a fully put together adult who did not need familial interference, and who had more in his fridge than hummus and fresh dog food. So here he stands, cart full of items that show he's fully grown with the ability to eat healthy so that Dick doesn't call Alfred again bemoaning his inability to feed himself. Even shopping at the end of the evening rush, he finds himself stuck at the end of the line while four customers ahead of him a patron complained about the couponing policy.  
He's staring at his phone, waiting for Colin to respond back to his text barrage so he won't lose his cool in a grocery store on someone twice his age, when he feels a quick few taps on his shoulder and sees Tim standing behind him. Tim waves at him to follow, and holds a finger up to his mouth, silencing Damian before he says anything. Damian does, and finds himself first on Tim's register before he's even turned his light on.  
“Saw you, thought you could use the line cut,” Tim says as Damian begins unloading his cart.  
“You won't get in trouble for this?”  
“I'm clocked in already, so why not? And you looked ready to pounce on that woman,” Tim shrugs as he starts quickly scanning the items through.  
“You would think she was being personally attacked by not being able to use seven one dollar coupons.”  
“No one told you we change the policies specifically to make her life more difficult?”  
“Must have missed the memo.”  
“Planning a party?” Tim asks, shoving the items down the line to make room.  
“My brother is visiting. He likes to make sure I'm taking care of myself,” Damian sighs as he finally puts all the items up and hurries over to pay.  
“By buying seven bags of dog treats?” Tim laughs as he scans them all.  
“Titus is old and knows just how to get my brother to give him anything,” Damian says, starting to bag as soon as his payment is taken.  
“Which is why it's your brother who's in here buying treats.”  
Damian huffs and sends Tim a dirty look, who just laughs more.  
“Are you open?” A man calls over to Tim who shakes his head.  
“Sorry, express lane only,” Tim says, nodding to the man's full basket. The man shoots Damian and Tim a nasty look and heads to another line.  
Damian realizes that he's never seen Tim in anything other than fluorescent light. He's far paler than Damian, thin and angular in a way that seems more like malnourishment than natural thinness. Even with the noticeable exhaustion, and his hair knotted up in a messy bun, just like all the other times Damian has seen him, Tim seems honestly happy to talk to Damian.  
“I think we have English together,” Damian gets out, the non-sequitur sounding harsh to his ears.  
“I think so too,” Tim agrees congenitally, bagging the last few items. Damian starts shoving them into his basket as Tim hands them over. “Maybe I'll see you in there. You can tell me how many of those bags of treats your brother feeds to Titus.”  
“We should eat,” Damian responds back. He wants to smack himself. He wants to call Jason and let Jason smack him.  
“Sorry?” Tim chokes out, staring at Damian, eyes wide in shock. The receipt prints, and Tim grabs it without taking his eyes off Damian, handing it over.  
“No. No I'm sorry,” Damian says, grabbing the receipt and hurrying out of the store.  
Dick congratulates him on how nice the apartment is, and Damian skips English.

Damian really did try to stay away from the store. But Jason had texted him an sos to pick up some emergency sick supplies for Lian, and Damian wasn't going to deny a sick little girl ice pops just because he was embarrassed.  
“They don't have cherry; they don't have any,” Damian practically growls into his phone. He had sent Jason a picture of the frozen section to prove the point already, but Jason had sent back that it was that or a crying little girl.  
“Can you go to another store? They're the only thing she'll keep down. Roy says they've got all kinds of electrolytes and stuff that are good for her,” Jason asks, knowing Damian would for his in-all-but-name niece.  
“It's 2 am, Jason. The pharmacy didn't have them, and this is the only store open. Where else am I supposed to go?”  
“Roy says they have them,” Jason calls, putting him on speaker phone. He can hear Lian in background.  
“Roy doesn't know what he's talking about. There's no pedialyte in this godforsaken store.”  
“I thought only the employees hated this place that much,” Damian hears next to him and tenses as he looks over to see Tim standing next to him.  
He's leaning against a basket filled to the brim with items, looking up at Damian. He's in his store uniform, the black and white apron hanging loosely on his thin frame.  
Damian is flabbergasted. Tim is just standing there, as if their last interaction had not ended with Damian word vomiting a poorly timed date prompt. As if Damian hadn’t been arriving to class barely before the professor began talking so there was no time for embarrassment and apologies.  
“Pedialyte is in the baby aisle,” Tim says lightly, waving over his shoulder at the rest of the store. Damian pulls his phone away from his face, turning fully towards Tim.  
“I need the ice pops,” Damian finally gets out. Tim just nods in agreement.  
“They don't keep them here. It's all on aisle twelve.”  
“Damian,” Jason calls through the phone, “Stop arguing with this person and go get them.”  
“Thank you,” Damian says as Tim pushes off of his cart and gives him a quick smile.  
“Want me to show you?”  
“Say yes, Dami,” Jason says, and Damian quickly hangs up and shoves his phone in his pocket.  
“Please. I don't think I've ever even seen that aisle.”  
“It’s baby and feminine items, so no, probably not,” Tim says, turning away from Damian and leading the way.  
“Little presumptuous of them,” Damian sighs, his long stride quickly bringing him to Tim’s side.  
“God, right?” Tim laughs, turning onto the aisle and pointing out the box Damian had spent the last hour looking for.  
“You’re a lifesaver,” Damian says, grabbing two boxes, just in case.  
“Not really, need anything else?”  
“No,” Damian shakes his head, gesturing to the basket Tim is still pushing. “Go back to your shopping, I’m sorry I had to bother you.”  
“This? This is just go-backs. I’ve never bought this many groceries at once in my life,” Tim jokes. “I’m guessing your...friend? Needs those pretty badly if you’re out here so late.”  
“Niece,” Damian corrects. “My brother’s...whatever... his daughter caught the plague apparently, and no one can leave the house, so I was called as backup.”  
“Whatever?” Tim asks, tiding the shelf they’re standing next to.  
“There’s so many people living in that apartment I’ve stopped trying to define it. Apparently it only becomes a problem during parent-teacher conferences when they don’t know who to send.”  
Tim laughs, shaking his head at Damian.  
“Sounds like you’ve got a pretty interesting family, Damian.”  
“You know my name?” Damian is happily surprised, and knows he’s doing a terrible job of hiding it.  
“Your brother practically yelled it through the phone. Plus, we’ve got English together, right?”  
“Right,” Damian says.  
“Hey, how’s Titus?” Tim asks, pushing his basket down the aisle.  
Damian follows along, responding to Tim’s question, which segues into a story about Dick feeding Titus too many treats last weekend, which leads to another about Dick complaining to Damian about how Jason never calls except when Lian has a recital or competition. By the time Damian realizes he still has to buy the pops for Jason, Tim has emptied his basket and led them back to the front. Damian watches him push the baset back into the foyer, checking his watch and seeing the store closes in less than ten minutes.  
“Let me just punch in my number, and I’ll check you out,” Tim says, waving Damian to his register. Damian hands the pops over, shaking his head  
“I didn’t realize I had taken up so much time. You must have other work to do.”  
“Nah, I’m done once I count out my tray, don’t worry. Plus, with the way you rushed out of here last time, I wanted to make sure we were cool.”  
“You. You wanted to make sure?” Damian stares as Tim nods and hands him his receipt. He leans his hip against the register belt, crossing his arms.  
“Yeah, you looked like you had stuck your finger in an electrical outlet or something.”  
“I told you we should eat.”  
“You did.”  
“I never should have said that,” Damian says, and watches Tim’s shoulders droop a little, so he clarifies.  
“You’re at work. It’s inappropriate.”  
“Inappropriate?”  
“Jason says that the service industry has to put up with enough already with customer negativity, and that to say anything that could be seen as harassment is inappropriate as your jobs call for you to be nice no matter what and only makes your day more difficult.” Damian knows it sounds like he’s quoting a textbook, and he might as well be with the amount of times he had heard this same tirade from Jason.  
“He’s not wrong,” Tim sighs, giving Damian a once over. Damian feels a blush starting to creep up his neck, and he’s not sure if it’s from embarrassment or from the way Tim’s eyes linger.  
“Make you a deal. I’ll let it go, if you meet me for a late lunch after English. You can tell me more about your family.”  
“Just my family?” Damian blurts out.  
“Well, and maybe a little more about you,” Tim says smiling. He clicks off his light just as someone calls out a five minute warning.  
“Hope Lian feels better soon,” Tim says, pulling out his cash tray. Damian snatches up his bag and nods quickly. Tim waves as he walks to customer service to drop off his tray. Damian takes that as his cue and hurries to his car. He drops off both boxes and barely makes it out before Kory can drag out of him why he looks so happy. 

Damian meets Tim outside of English and talks him into eating outside on the quad, instead of under the harsh lights of the coffee shop. He’s still pale, but Damian can finally watch his cheeks flush in laughter under the sunlight. 

 

There’s only one grocery store open in Gotham until 3 a.m., and at least once a week Damian finds himself waiting outside in his car to take the same checkout clerk for a very early breakfast to watch the sunrise over his smile.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Tim/Dami story,and it was definitely not a pairing I'm comfortable writing, so I hope everyone enjoyed! This was also supposed to be my April #20batteen story, but Batman's anniversary was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. 
> 
> And you can always follow me on [Tumblr](http://kindaquirky.tumblr.com/) or on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/StephASheldon)


End file.
